Local ketchup business is alive and Kickin'

Feb. 21, 2013

Updated 1:17 p.m.

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Michael Lee of San Juan Capistrano, co-founder of Beach Cities Ketchup Co., hangs out with bottles of the company's Kickin' Ketchup at Historic Town Center Park in San Juan. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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Kickin' Ketchup can be found in 12 Whole Foods Markets in Southern California. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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Michael Lee waits to deliver a case of Kickin' Ketchup to the deli at the Whole Foods Market in Laguna Niguel. Lee and his partners in Beach Cities Ketchup Co. make deliveries and taste demonstrations at stores throughout Southern California. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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Stephanie Duda, deli kitchen manager at Laguna Niguel's Whole Foods Market, signs for a delivery of Kickin' Ketchup by Michael Lee, co-founder of the brand. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

Beach Cities Ketchup Co.

Michael Lee's San Juan Capistrano home was the testing center for three months last year when his and three other families came together every evening with plans to bottle a homemade ketchup recipe they had been using for years at family and neighborhood get-togethers.

Through 40 gallons of ketchup, 12 to 20 people tested the recipe one french fry at a time before narrowing it to one taste everyone liked.

"We had our original flavor and started on a spicier version," Lee said. "Really it was way too spicy, and the kids helped us to bring it down so they liked it. And they were right."

Lee and three partners started Dana Point-based Beach Cities Ketchup Co. just over a year ago. Its product, Kickin' Ketchup, can be found in 12 Whole Foods Markets across Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. Lee and the partners are the ones stocking the shelves. They present an average of 40 in-store taste demonstrations per week.

The company's website says the ketchup also is served in 16 restaurants in California and Texas.

Lee, 46, said it's one thing to make the recipe at home and another to work out the same flavor in bulk mixings of gallons and gallons at a time. But he said the final mix came out much better than expected. In fact, a food scientist said the Ph balance in the ketchup was so good that it would need no preservatives, Lee said.

Things began to fall into place after the group interviewed several packers and came across one in Fullerton.

"And then when we were with the packer deciding on what we were going to do ... a forager for Whole Foods came in and tasted 57 products, including ours," Lee said. "He picked seven products that day, and ours was one of them."

Kickin' Ketchup sells at the higher end of the market – $4.69 a bottle at Whole Foods. But Lee says it's doing so well that it looks like it will soon be on the shelves of 45 Whole Foods Markets in Southern California.

Stephanie Duda, 27, deli kitchen manager for the Whole Foods in Laguna Niguel, said Kickin' Ketchup is used to glaze store-made meat dishes.

"The moms really like it because of the ingredients, or really, I think it's the lack of ingredients," Lee said. "Twenty-five percent less sugar, no preservatives, it's gluten-free and there is no high-fructose corn syrup. Look at the label; you can actually read it."

5 QUESTIONS WITH MICHAEL LEE

Q. What has been the best thing about starting your company?

A. It's a fun family adventure where we have all been involved from the beginning. The kids really helped us out with the taste testing and getting it perfect, and I am looking forward to the whole thing being profitable. It's great sharing it with people.

Q. What has been the biggest challenge?

A. Keeping up with all the demos. People have not tried our product, so you have to go out and let them taste it for themselves. We are supporting all the Whole Foods Markets that have it on their shelves, so with 12 stores in L.A., Orange County and San Diego County, it's a lot. We stock the shelves too.

Q. What do you think the trends in ketchup will be?

A. I think we're here because a lot of people have been putting tapatillo and hot sauce in their ketchup on their own. So we felt there was need for a spicy ketchup.

Q. What is the difference between Kickin' Ketchup and other similar products on the market?

A. We have no preservatives and we use 25 percent less sugar. There is no high-fructose corn syrup and it's gluten-free.

Q. Do you have plans for other flavors?

A. We'll see. We have a barbecue sauce we make as a family, so we don't sell it and we won't be selling it. But now we add Kickin' Ketchup to the barbecue sauce and it's really good. So I would just suggest that people add Kickin' Ketchup to their own barbecue sauce, like we do.

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